We've added three new double-long board shapes to our lineup of Add-On Packs, that are guaranteed to boost your play set's building-ability by a whole bunch of factors: 

Factor 1: Exponentially more building options with each add-on pack, meaning hours upon hours of no screens.

Factor 2: Three new Long-Board shapes mean you can build SLEEPOVER BUNKS, EXTRA-LONG or WIDE DECKS, DOUBLE-LONG ROOFS, and more. Every Long-Board integrates seamlessly with all other 'hoos boards.

Factor 3: Free Biscuits. A free Biscuit 12-Pack with each Add-On you order!  Biscuits are kind of like atoms: they are tiny but mighty, and we need them to build anything.

Factor 4:  Bilderhoos is the perfect indoor play set for cold winter and spring months. It expands or shrinks depending on your space, and stacks away when you're not using it.  

See? That's a lot of factors!

SAVE 10%

Until the first day of Spring, use EARLYSPRING promo code that will save you 10% off your entire order if you order a 58-Pc Play Set plus any Add-On Pack valued at $250 or more. 

We were at ChiTAG with a toy that kids can't get enough of.

We brought two 58-Piece Bilderhoos Play Sets, one painted set and one natural, for the kids to try hands-on building and climbing and taking apart and building again. And did they ever!

Parents having trouble dragging their kids away from the 'hoos is a joy to behold, at least, from the Boss Elf's perspective. Really, I do have sympathy for them (I raised three), but I also know what the remedy is! :)

Building it himself.

We'll have live 'hooses and the fair will supply all the kids! Also, Kieran designed some 'hoos benches that we are sprinkling about the fair.

If you're anywhere near Chicago on Nov 19-20, come see us and say hi! We'd LOVE to see you there.

The playful and photogenic brothers next door, Norman and Henry, love Bilderhoos and are among my very first testers whenever we have something new, or whenever I need some new photos to freshen up the website. And to represent girls everywhere, Edie and Sasha (my accountant's delightful daughters) come over from across the street for the same reason, sometimes with friends.  I'm grateful.

In the coming weeks I'll be asking a lot of all of them!  We're introducing Bilderhoos 2.0 this week, a 58-piece play set that's the same, yet different. It's lighter to lift and carry (easier to imagine loading it into the trunk and taking it to the beach for a day, or even on a car-camping trip in the woods). It is lighter to the eye: it doesn't come in anything but natural wood, but the wood is silver birch which has a groovy sheen to it with tight little burls and we think you'll like it just as it is.  It's every bit as strong and sturdy as the thicker stuff of yore.  

It'll be a slow launch, being orchestrated by just me.  So if you see things that look out of whack on our website, please be patient, check in again in a few days. I don't even have pricing yet, that's how I'm rolling this month. 

The first new photos are up, you can't miss them because they jump out at you from the home page (bilderhoos.com). 

What will happen to the original Bilderhoos? We are wondering the same thing. If you own one, there'll be an opportunity to expand your set before we do anything drastic, like retire it altogether. 

Will keep you posted. :)

Edie inside a super secret play set design that we haven't released, at least, not yet. Maybe I'll tell you about it one day.

We are overjoyed to be part of the Ten Days of Play event going on right now (February 12 - 21, 2016) at The Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield, MA.  

We shipped a 500 lb Bilderhoos set to them last week -- enough 'hoos boards to make a small town or a large rambling play house. Which they did!

Basically, the changes are about color. 

By February 1st we'll be offering an unpainted, unstained natural wood 'Hoos 60 play set, without color, as our main option.  It'll be coated with polyurethane to protect the wood, but no paint or stain.   (We've already updated the 'Hoos 30 variations.)

For DIY'ers, we'll have an unfinished option: precision-cut boards with edges rounded, fully sanded, for a few hundred less. Save some dough and apply your own finish. 

Our traditional 4-color painted sets (Rocket, Sunbeam, Ocean, Grass) will still be available. 

The color/non-color option goes for all of our 'Hoos Add-On boards, too.

We are wholeheartedly grateful to you early Bilderhoos Play Set adopters, those of you who supported us in 2015, our first year in business, because without you we wouldn't be able to be us! 

All you new 'Hoos owners, here's how to write to us (<< click that link) -- we'd love to hear your thoughts, ideas, and see photos of your 'hoos builds.

'Hoos fans are pretty evenly distributed across the country.  This map shows the zip codes where we shipped a 'Hoos play set in 2015 (two or three sets, in some cases):

I wish I didn't have to put a deadline on this, but December 6th is the last day we calculate we might fulfill orders for delivery by 12/25.

Unless you live within driving distance of the shop (Olympia WA, 98501) and can pick it up, in which case contact us and we'll try to make it work: 

 orders@bilderhoos.com

Our first holiday season has been lively, so far!

It's such a joy to be part of anything The Grommet does.

Take a look at our story in the "Meet the Maker" series, written by Tori Tait, 

Director of Content and Community at The Grommet.